Building and maintaining roads can have significant economic and social benefits in terms of economic growth and increased access to jobs and to a range of services citizens depend on.
... See More + However, road infrastructure and transport services are often mistakenly assumed to have uniform benefits for everyone, but they are, in fact, differently experienced by different population groups. For example, women and men often have varying needs for transport infrastructure and services, which stem from their different productive and reproductive roles they hold in a society. At the same time, women and men are not homogenous and they experience transport differently due to their different socio-economic and demographic features, such as, income, age, disabilities, ethnicity and/or location. These multiple identities often lead to multiple and overlapping disadvantages for many, commonly known as ‘intersectionality1’- influencing access to and use of services and economic opportunities of the multiple identity holders differently. As an example, a Roma woman could face several mobility disadvantages for being women and being a member of a socially excluded group. This assessment was undertaken as part of the World Bank financed North Macedonia Local Roads Connectivity Project (‘the Project’) to explore, for the first time, the less-studied situation of social inclusion in a transport project along gender and ethnicity lines in the country. The assessment (i) identified specific needs of Roma women, Roma men and non-Roma women for road infrastructure and public transport, (ii) explored their needs, experiences and aspirations towards the employment in the sector, and (iii) defined entry points for the Project to address some of these needs. The Roma2 are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, as well as one of the most deprived and socially excluded groups. At the same time, women, in general, tend to face different or more acute mobility barriers compared to men. Also, fewer women than men are employed in the transport sector, which is traditionally male dominated. Therefore, it was decided to apply intersectional lens to the analysis to understand mobility and employment barriers that Roma women, Roma men and non-Roma women are facing in order to bring out more nuances of social exclusion and better tailor the solutions to the project.
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The Western Balkans is home to the most polluting power plants in Europe, and its transport and energy infrastructure require updates. Not surprisingly, countries such as Kosovo, are suffering from severe urban air pollution and traffic congestion as a result of high dependence on fossil fuels in the energy matrix, inefficient transport system and aging vehicle fleets.
... See More + These substantially harm public health, productivity and efficiency in urban mobility. Kosovo is implementing the EU enacted Stabilization Tracking Mechanism programme, aiming to gradually integrate its national policies on legal, economic and social matters with the EU. On 6 February 2018, the European Commission published its expansion plan to cover up to six Western Balkan countries including Kosovo with potential accession as members of the EU after 2025. This is relevant for vehicle emissions as it entails implementation of EU vehicle emission and fuel standards. The development objective of this project is to support the government of Kosovo and City of Pristina to develop strategies to reduce emissions and pollutions from transport perspective, such as modernization and better management of public and private vehicle fleets, and to scope for components and activities to be considered as part of potential Develop Policy Financing or Investment Project Financing by the World Bank The layout of the report includes the following sections: Chapter second realizes a rapid assessment of vehicle pollution for Kosovo including vehicle emission trends. Chapter third list in a summarized manner major instruments to reduce transportation emissions. Based on the problem and solution description policies are selected which are assessed in further detail to curb vehicle emissions in Kosovo. These policies or interventions were selected based on on-going plans and activities and interest from the Government. They include usage of low-emission buses (chapter fourth), fiscal instruments to promote low-emitting vehicles (chapter fifth) and implementation of in-service vehicle emission testing.
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This report consolidates the findings and recommendations from studies on climate resilient road assets in Albania, financed through a grant provided by the Global facility for disaster reduction and recovery (GFDRR).
... See More + The objective of the work is to assist the Albanian authorities in the prioritization of current and future climate, and seismic resilient investments in the road sector. The work has used climate and seismic vulnerability assessments, and proposed mitigation measures to improve climate and seismic resilience of the Albanian road network. The report finds that the investment in resilience and mitigation measures on the Albanian national road network is cost effective and is much less than the estimated annualised cost of the damage and loss that would accrue if mitigation measures are not put in place and maintained.
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